balenaEtcher Alternatives for Windows

There are many alternatives to balenaEtcher for Windows if you are looking for a replacement. The best Windows alternative is Rufus, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to balenaEtcher and many of them are available for Windows so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Windows alternatives to balenaEtcher are Ventoy, UNetbootin, YUMI exFAT and Win32 Disk Imager.

filter to find the best alternatives

balenaEtcher alternatives are mainly Bootable USB Creators but may also be Disk Imaging Tools or Disk Cloning Tools.  Other popular filters includes Android Tablet + Create bootable USB. Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of balenaEtcher.
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Ideal for creating bootable USBs and SD cards, ensuring safe, cross-platform use. Open-source, lightweight, and portable with a user-friendly interface.

More about balenaEtcher
balenaEtcher alternatives page was last updated Feb 13, 2025
  1. Rufus icon
     1487 likes

    Formats USB drives to FAT, NTFS, exFAT, and more, while creating bootable USBs from diverse ISOs. Supports MS-DOS/FreeDOS with no external files and offers BIOS or UEFI mode, including bad block check. Ideal for systems lacking an OS or flashing BIOS and lightweight, ad-free.

    68 Rufus alternatives
    Rufus screenshot 1
    Rufus screenshot 2
    +2
    Rufus screenshot 3

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Create bootable USB
    2.  Portable
    3.  Burn iso
    4.  Windows To Go
    5.  UEFI Support
    6.  Write ISO to SD card
    7.  Create bootable Image
    8.  Create BIOS bootable drive
    9.  Create UEFI bootable drive
    10.  GNU/linux-libre
    11.  USB to FAT
    12.  USB to NTFS
    Rufus iconbalenaEtcher Icon

    Rufus VS balenaEtcher

    Is Rufus a good alternative to balenaEtcher?
     
    Comments about Rufus as an Alternative to balenaEtcher
     
       
    Paul

    Probably the best software to burn an OS image on a USB drive if you're using Windows.

    Top positive commentApr 2, 2020
    2
    DL300

    I am convinced BalenaEtcher is recommended by people who have never used it. I have never even witnessed it successfully complete a write. Rufus has always worked.

    Positive commentSep 11, 2022
    -1
    Guest

    It works best and has features needed most.

    Positive commentSep 18, 2021
    0
    Show more comments
    3 of 10 comments
    balenaEtcher Icon
    Rufus icon
    • Almost everyone thinks Rufus is a great balenaEtcher alternative.

    • Rufus is the most popular Windows alternative to balenaEtcher.

    • Rufus is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to balenaEtcher.

    • Rufus is Free and Open SourcebalenaEtcher is also Free and Open Source
    • Rufus is LightweightbalenaEtcher is not according to our users
  2. Ventoy icon
     326 likes

    Ventoy is an open source tool to create bootable USB drive for ISO files. With ventoy, you don't need to format the disk again and again, you just need to copy the iso file to the USB drive and boot it.

    47 Ventoy alternatives
    Ventoy screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Multi boot
    2.  Create bootable USB
    3.  Multiboot USB
    4.  Create Multiboot USB
    5.  UEFI Support
    6.  Persistent Storage
    7.  Portable
    8.  Multi-windows
    9.  VHD Boot
    10.  Command line interface
    11.  Ad-free
    Ventoy iconbalenaEtcher Icon

    Ventoy VS balenaEtcher

    Is Ventoy a good alternative to balenaEtcher?
     
    Comments about Ventoy as an Alternative to balenaEtcher
     
       
    Aas

    balenaEtcher had some privacy issue in the past. Ventoy doesn't "phone home". Why an USB image creator needs to send some data out anyway?

    Top positive commentSep 30, 2022
    4
    Guest

    Ventoy only needs a one time setup and all bootable ISOs are just placed in your USB drive. Also your USB drive keeps being a storage device when you're in your OS

    Positive commentNov 24, 2023
    0
    Jeremy Leik

    Ventoy is a great tool. I had used YUMI extensively before Ventoy came out. What is great about Ventoy is the cross-platform support and the fact that your ISO image stay intact on your USB stick. Being able to have a large 256GB USB stick with Ventoy on it also gives it an edge against tools like Balena Etcher (one image per USB) or Rufus (ISO images are not intact).

    As a bonus, Ventoy can create USB sticks that will work with BOTH UEFI and BIOS.

    Positive commentJun 8, 2022
    2
    Show more comments
    3 of 5 comments
    balenaEtcher Icon
    Ventoy icon
    • Almost everyone thinks Ventoy is a great balenaEtcher alternative.

    • Ventoy is the most popular Linux alternative to balenaEtcher.

    • Ventoy is Free and Open SourcebalenaEtcher is also Free and Open Source
    • Ventoy is LightweightbalenaEtcher is not according to our users
  3. UNetbootin icon
     747 likes

    Cross-platform tool for making bootable USB and Live USB drives, featuring a built-in downloader for Linux ISO images and rescue disks, supporting BSD and various utilities. No installation required, it runs directly and offers compatibility and community support for many distributions.

    56 UNetbootin alternatives
    Welcome screen

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • PortableApps.com

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Create bootable USB
    2.  Persistent Linux
    3.  Automatic downloading
    4.  Download ISO Images
    5.  Portable
    6.  Windows To Go
    7.  Ad-free
    8.  Portable Linux
    9.  Burn iso
    Discontinued

    Last commit to the repository was on Jun 28, 2023, and latest version is from Feb 4, 2021.

    UNetbootin iconbalenaEtcher Icon

    UNetbootin VS balenaEtcher

    Is UNetbootin a good alternative to balenaEtcher?
     
    Comments about UNetbootin as an Alternative to balenaEtcher
     
    Guest

    I cannot choose Winshit 10

    Negative commentMay 5, 2016
    2
    Guest

    It doesn't appear to just write images to disk

    Negative commentJun 16, 2022
    0
    balenaEtcher Icon
    UNetbootin icon
    • Most users think UNetbootin is a great balenaEtcher alternative.

    • UNetbootin is the most popular Mac alternative to balenaEtcher.

    • UNetbootin is Free and Open SourcebalenaEtcher is also Free and Open Source
    • UNetbootin is Privacy focused and LightweightbalenaEtcher is not according to our users
  4. YUMI exFAT icon
     282 likes

    The YUMI exFAT (Your Universal Multiboot Installer) media creation tool can be used to automatically create an exFAT bootable USB flash drive containing multiple operating systems, antivirus utilities, disc cloning, diagnostic tools, and more.

    47 YUMI exFAT alternatives
    YUMI exFAT screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
    • Wine
    • WineBottler

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Create Multiboot USB
    2.  Multiboot USB
    3.  Create bootable USB
    4.  Can install to internal hard drives/ssds
    5.  Persistent Storage
    6.  UEFI Support
    7.  Portable
    8.  Multi boot
    9.  Multi-windows
    YUMI exFAT iconbalenaEtcher Icon

    YUMI exFAT VS balenaEtcher

    Is YUMI exFAT a good alternative to balenaEtcher?
     
  5. Win32 Disk Imager icon
     84 likes

    A utility that can write a raw backup image of your hard drive to a removable device or vice versa.

    45 Win32 Disk Imager alternatives
    Win32 Disk Imager screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Windows

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Portable
    2.  Disk to image file conversion
    Win32 Disk Imager iconbalenaEtcher Icon

    Win32 Disk Imager VS balenaEtcher

    Is Win32 Disk Imager a good alternative to balenaEtcher?
     
    Comments about Win32 Disk Imager as an Alternative to balenaEtcher
     
    TheDcoder

    A lot smaller and more native to the Windows platform than Etcher

    Positive commentMar 18, 2017
    1
    Guest

    Win32 Disk Imager, despite its name, does not "create" disk images: it only writes/mounts pre-existing .img files to flash storage.

    Negative commentJun 18, 2019
    -4
    balenaEtcher Icon
    Win32 Disk Imager icon
    • Most users think Win32 Disk Imager is a great balenaEtcher alternative.

    • Win32 Disk Imager is Free and Open SourcebalenaEtcher is also Free and Open Source
    • Win32 Disk Imager is LightweightbalenaEtcher is not according to our users
  6. Universal USB Installer icon
     175 likes

    Universal USB Installer is a Live Linux USB Creator that allows you to choose from a selection of Linux Distributions to put on your USB Flash Drive. The Universal USB Installer is easy to use. Simply choose a Live Linux Distribution, the ISO file, your Flash Drive and, Click...

    45 Universal USB Installer alternatives
    Universal USB Installer screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Windows

    Universal USB Installer Features

    1.  Portable
    2.  No need to format
    3.  Portable Linux
    4.  Persistent Linux
    5.  Multiple languages
    Universal USB Installer iconbalenaEtcher Icon

    Universal USB Installer VS balenaEtcher

    Is this a good alternative to balenaEtcher?
     
  7. USBImager icon
     23 likes

    USBImager is a really really simple GUI application that writes compressed disk images to USB drives and creates backups.

    18 USBImager alternatives
    Linux

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Raspberry Pi

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Disk Imaging
    2.  Write ISO to SD card
    3.  ARM support
    4.  Ad-free
    5.  Portable
    6.  Raspberry Pi Development
    USBImager iconbalenaEtcher Icon

    USBImager VS balenaEtcher

    Is USBImager a good alternative to balenaEtcher?
     
    Comments about USBImager as an Alternative to balenaEtcher
     
    rescuezilla

    USBImager is a 300 kilobyte download compared to balenaEtcher's 80+ megabyte. They're both cross-platform (Windows/macOS/Linux). The reason is USBImager is a native app while balenaEtcher is an Electron app.

    balenaEtcher is still a bit more user-friendly, but USBImager is by far the best cross-platform alternative right now.

    Positive commentDec 27, 2020
    1
    docampoangel

    Is like etcher but installed occupies 508,43 KiB in disk, instead 500MB of spyware and electron crap.

    Positive commentDec 4, 2022
    1
    prog_uk

    Small, simple and does everything it needs to without any unnecessary bells and whistles.

    Positive commentNov 4, 2022
    0
    balenaEtcher Icon
    USBImager icon
    • Almost everyone thinks USBImager is a great balenaEtcher alternative.

    • USBImager is Free and Open SourcebalenaEtcher is also Free and Open Source
    • USBImager is LightweightbalenaEtcher is not according to our users
  8. LinuxLive USB Creator icon
     124 likes

    LiLi USB Creator is a free software for Windows that allows you to create a bootable Live USB key with a Linux on it.

    45 LinuxLive USB Creator alternatives
    Context Menu on USB Drive

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Windows

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Create UEFI bootable drive
    2.  Portable Linux
    3.  Dark Mode
    4.  Portable
    5.  Ad-free
    6.  No registration required
    7.  No Tracking
    8.  Works Offline
    9.  USB to FAT
    Discontinued

    Site says app is no longer maintained.

    LinuxLive USB Creator iconbalenaEtcher Icon

    LinuxLive USB Creator VS balenaEtcher

    Is this a good alternative to balenaEtcher?
     
8 of 37 balenaEtcher alternatives